An Exercise In Centimation
by MakeLoveNotSense
Summary: The Doctor, Donna Noble, and a 100 word limit. Need I say more?
1. Envious

Exactly what it says on the tin: me attempting to stick to a 100-word limit. Fifteen chapters, a drabble for each Donna episode, inspired by the title prompts from the doctor_donna LiveJournal community. Enjoy.

* * *

_**an **_

**EXERCISE**

_**in**_

**CENTIMATION**

**E N V I O U S **

_**the runaway bride**_

He wanted her life.

Because yes, she'd just been betrayed by the man who was supposed to love her. And yes, she had the mother from hell. But at the end of the day, she had the optimism that could make her life brighter without starlight. She had the strength to say No. I Will Not Come With You. I Am Not That Person.

Yet.

He added that last word in his mind because there was a 'see you soon' locked in that goodbye. Au revoir, then.

You Need Someone To Stop You.

Maybe, one day, if he's lucky, her.


	2. Protection

**P R O T E C T I O N**

_**partners in crime**_

Oh, Donna. Why did you have to look for me?

You see, the Universe isn't all like the bit we saw. I know you understood the Racnoss, that you saw what they can do, but I don't think you grasped the concept. Outside your world, it isn't all stars and magic with the odd bit of trouble thrown in. Everything dies.

And the thing is, I don't want you to realise. That hopeful optimism that Matron Cofelia can be saved, that the Adipose children are innocent, I want you to keep that.

I need you to keep that.


	3. Lipstick

**L I P S T I C K**

_**the fires of pompeii**_

"Can I have my lipstick back?"

He looks at her like she's gone mad, because what would he want with her lipstick? She just sighs, gestures towards his pockets, and leaves. He glances helplessly downwards, then starts to rummage through.

At first he thinks he's going to have to empty them completely. Yo-yos, half-eaten packets of jelly babies, bits of string and a kettle all get thrown unceremoniously on a pile until he finally reaches the lipstick.

It's got an elastic band round it - and _where_ she got an elastic band, he just doesn't know - with a note attached. He peels it off and opens it to see her messy scrawl:

_Take care of this for a while, Spaceman. Turns out this toga is yet another dress with no pockets. Donna._

He notices the scribbled-out x next to her name, and smiles in spite of himself.


	4. Curve

**C U R V E**

_**planet of the ood**_

She sits down silently beside him. He knows she's thinking about Ood Sigma's parting words, but he has no time for riddles.

"You wanted to leave me."

He tries to regret the words that quietly left his lips, but doesn't; however hard he tries he can't make them sound accusatory. They simply hang between him and Donna, tying them both to a transparent barrier he can't quite breach.

She says she's sorry. He knows she's lying.

But then her fingers curl around his, and he forgets what he needed to forgive her for.


	5. Tattoo

**T A T T O O**

_**the sontaran stratagem**_

I am sorry, you know.

Sorry I sided with Martha. Sorry I made you think I was leaving. Sorry I left you alone in that car. Sorry I dragged you into my mad, unforgiving arguments with my mother.

But honestly - did you _really_ think I would walk away from this? That I would leave my best friend and that great big universe, to go back to live-for-the-weekend, nothing-special Donna?

This life is part of me, Spaceman. It's everything I am.

Donna Noble. With the Doctor. In the TARDIS.

Not a bad start for forever, don't you think?


	6. Bow

**B O W**

_**the poison sky**_

She can feel the weight of his faith settle around her neck with the key. She feels like breaking under the pressure.

It's not all that heavy, and she knows he doesn't realise the significance. But essentially, the key says _I trust you with my home_. And she's never been good at protecting fragile things.

But afterwards, he sends her a hopeful smile and her hand snakes to the chain. He really does think she's brilliant, doesn't he?

She's not quite sure she believes it yet, but for him she's willing to try.


	7. Picture

**P I C T U R E**

_**the doctor's daughter**_

"Where are we?"

"The planet Cannaid."

"It's beautiful. What does the name mean?"

"White. It's named for the sea."

"Yes, I can see that, Spaceman. So why didn't they call it Mint Green?"

"You called your planet Earth. You didn't call it Sky."

"No need to be sarcastic… Is that- is that _whale song_?"

"They're Belphini. We're actually rather lucky, most people never hear them."

"Why do they sing?"

"It's a funeral hymn. They sing to celebrate the life of the dead."

"…"

"…"

"Doctor…?"

"Yes, Donna?"

"She would have loved it here."

"…"

"…"

"I know."


	8. Charm

**C H A R M**

_**the unicorn and the wasp**_

"So, case closed then. Good work, Watson."

The Doctor narrows his eyes. "I am _not_ Watson. I am quite obviously Sherlock."

She leans in, and for an instant all he can think about is the memory of her lips on his own. Then the moment passes, and she simply says "Whatever you say, Watson. Whatever you say."

He watches her waltz off to the wardrobe room and thinks unexpectedly of Martha, hopelessly lovelorn Martha, and his own feigned ignorance.

He wonders if this is what the proverbial own medicine tastes like. He never realised it would be quite so bittersweet.


	9. Green

**G R E E N**

_**silence in the library**_

Professor River Song.

Donna isn't jealous (obviously; her and him aren't _like_ that), but she'll admit that River has her worried. Because he's _her_ Spaceman, and no stuck-up archaeologist is going to hurt him. Not on Donna's watch.

So she keeps her guard up. And despite pushing him towards River - after all, she has information they need - Donna can't help being slightly apprehensive. They don't want another Rose.

Then he sends her away and keeps River by his side, and that voice telling her she isn't jealous falls strangely silent.


	10. Confession

**C O N F E S S I O N**

_**forest of the dead**_

I'm trying.

I'm trying so hard not to ask you what happened to leave you so unsure of yourself. I've never seen you like this before - you, who would always be alright, who would always know exactly how to make me forget that you're falling apart.

Of course, I know that I should feel privileged. Few are allowed beyond those barriers you wear so well. But this defencelessness is not you, is not _my_ you, the you I know and love and miss so desperately.

Come back soon. I've never been good with strangers.


	11. Reckless

**R E C K L E S S**

_**midnight**_

It's awkward at first. He doesn't like enclosed spaces anymore - the first prison cell afterwards nearly breaks him. You know him too well, though, so you spend those hours fighting the instinct to hold him until the shaking stops.

And you begin to realise - _this_ is what he needs companions for. You exist to pretend his weaknesses do not, and through you he believes it too.

But always at the back of your mind is the terrible feeling that this is _your _fault. And the worst part?

It never even crossed his mind to blame you.


	12. Twisted

**T W I S T E D **

_**turn left**_

There is one person who knows what the Doctor thought as he washed himself away with the spiders.

There is one person who knows how lost he felt, and how he looked down half-expecting someone to be there.

There is one person who knows that Rose never healed those war wounds - she only helped him to forget the pain.

There is one person who knows that as he died, he inexplicably pictured a ginger woman holding his hand and telling him to stop.

There is only one person, and he was lost for the sake of a wrong turn.


	13. White

**W H I T E **

_**the stolen earth**_

"When you said 'space police', I was expecting something slightly more impressive than giant rhinos and an albino nun."

"Well, I know you tend to jump to conclusions. I suppose next you'll complain about their headquarters."

"It's a bit bright-"

"Donna!"

"OK! Is there a canteen?"

"The Earth's gone missing, the Universe is ending, and you're concerned about the catering facilities?"

"I'd like to say that I can suspend my appetite in times of emergency, but my stomach doesn't appear to be listening."

"…Donna?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"…I'm glad you turned left."

"…Me too."


	14. Lost

**L O S T**

_**journey's **_

Dying is not how you thought it would be.

You expected pain, yes, and the blackness clawing at the corners of your vision. But seeing it reflected in someone else's eyes brings pain of a different kind. Especially when it's him.

You know you don't get a choice; there's no last-minute reprieve. You're going to burn. The last thing you will ever do is watch him lose you. And it's going to hurt.

Then he's inside your head, and you'd do anything, even die, to take away that look in his eyes.


	15. Watching

Final drabble, people. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading.

* * *

**W A T C H I N G**

_**end**_

When I tell them she was the most important woman in the Universe, I don't add the 'to me'. I think they can tell by my voice.

Then she walks in, and the pain is unbearable, and why is it so _hard_ to be happy when she's fine and breathing and…

Not Donna.

She's not _my_ Donna.

When I leave, she doesn't say goodbye. She never will again.

And I suddenly realise why it's me and not her telling this final story, here at the end-

It's because I'm the only one left.


End file.
